Business Communication-:Barriers in Effective Communication

Chapter-05: Barriers in Effective Communication /Communication fall off

Sl. No.	Contentents	page #
5.1	Introduction
5.2	Barriers to Effective Communication
5.3	Barriers and Gateways of Communication
5.4	Organizational Barriers
5.5	Building Rapport with Eye Contact
5.6	What habits would you like to break while presenting?
5.7	Discussion questions

5.1 INTRODUCTION 

People in the world are not exactly alike. Cultures or countries are not the same. These differences, however, can cause problems in conveying your meanings. Each person’s mind is different from others. As a result, message sender’s meanings and the receiver’s response are affected by many factors, such as individual:

a.        Semantic barriers(Convention of meaning)

b.        Physical Barriers

c.        Psychological barriers

·          Emotional barriers

·          Perceptual barriers

d.        Barriers involving values attitudes etc.

i) Semantic Barriers

A basic principle of communication is that the symbols the sender uses to communicate messages must have the same meaning in both the sender’s and receiver’s minds. You can never be sure that the message in your mind will be clearly sent to your receiver. The world is full with errors, as a result of differences in semantic (meaning) understanding. A symbol is a sign for something that exits in reality. Thus your name really a symbol or word represents you. Only through common experience in a connection made between the symbol or word attached to you and the person you are in reality .Anyone with less common experience will not easily relate the symbol (your name) with you. Besides, there are problems in convention of meaning, so you must make yourself familiar with different types of meaning.

Denotation

A denotation is usually the dictionary definition of a word. Denotative meanings name objects, people or events without indicating positive or negative qualities. Such words as car, desk, book, house, and water convey denotative meanings. The receiver has a similar understanding of the thing in which the word is used.

Connotation

A connotation is an implication of a word or a suggestion separate from the usual definition. Some words have connotative meanings, that is, qualitative judgment and personal reactions. The word man is denotative, father, prophet, brother are connotative. Some words have positive connotations in some contexts and negative meanings in others. For example, slim girl and slim chances.

ii) Physical Barriers

Communication does not consist of words alone. Another set of barriers is caused by your own physical appearance, your audience, or the context of the document or the presentation. Your ideas, however good and however skillfully imparted, are at the mercy of various potential physical barriers.

For Writing

There is a whole barrage of possible physical blocks, jammed or jagged margins, fingerprints or smudges, unclear photocopies, unreadable word processor printout, water or coffee, tea spots etc

For Speaking

Mumbling, not enunciating, speaking too quickly, noises become of hissing ventilation, blowing air conditioning, ringing telephones, slamming doors etc. are different aspects of physical barriers.

iii) Psychological Barriers

Because of the changing world, everyone has his own concept of reality. Also, human beings, sensory perceptions – touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste are limited, and each person’s mental filter is unique. In our daily interaction with others, we make various abstractions, inferences and evaluations of the world around us.

·          Emotional Barriers

One possible psychological block is emotional, you may be emotionally block is you are announcing a new policy that whether you may become popular or unpopular. Similarly, you may have emotional barrier while making your first presentation or writing someone you dislike.

·          Perception barriers

The perceptual problem is that people think differently so as a result their perception of reality is different. The material world provides a special reality to teach individual. As human being’s sensory perceptions—touch, sight hearing, smell, taste -- are similar, and each person’s mental filter is unique. We make various abstractions, inferences and evaluations of the world around us.

Abstracting

Selecting some details and omitting others is a process called abstracting. On many occasions abstracting is necessary. Differences in abstracting take place not only when persons describe events but also when they describe people and objects. However, you should be cautious about “slanted” statements.

Slanting is unfair in factual reporting. When presenting some particular facts, you include your own biased ideas into it, you make slanting statement. Try not to let personal preferences affect your factual reporting of information.

Inferring

Conclusions made by reasoning from evidence are called inferences. We make assumptions and draw conclusions even though we are not able to immediately verify the evidence. Some inferences are both necessary and desirable; others are risky, even dangerous.

Necessary Inferences

When we reach a foreign country, we are sure that we will be treated politely.

When we post a letter, we infer that it will reach its destination.

When we base our inferences on direct observation or on reasonable evidence, they are likely to be quite dependable. Conclusion we make about things we have not observed directly can often be untrue.

As an intelligent communicator, we must realize that inferences may be incorrect or unreliable and anticipate the risks before acting on them. Be careful to distinguish clearly among verifiable facts, and mere guess work.

Barriers Involving Values, Attitudes etc.

Both personality and attitude are complex cognitive process. The difference is that personality usually is thought of as the whole person whereas attitude may make-up the personality. The term attitude describes people and explains their behavior. More precisely an attitude can be defined as a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some object. For example: Naeem does not like night shift, so his attitude is negative towards his work assignment.

A receiver’s attitude towards a message can determine whether it is accepted or rejected. The effectiveness is influenced also by the values, attitudes, and opinions of the communicators. People react favorably when they receive agreeable message. Receivers’ views of the information will affect their response. This response could be what the sender desires or just the opposite. Occasionally people react according to their attitudes toward a situation rather than to the facts.

Closed Mind

Some people hold rigid views on certain subjects. They maintain their rigid views regardless of the circumstances. Such a closed minded person is very difficult to communicate to.

Sender’s credibility

Credibility in the sender is important in getting a favorable reaction. Often people react more according to their attitude towards the source of information that to the information itself. An effective communication builds credibility by writing and speaking in a fair and just manner and by considering receiver’s point of view. Other circumstances, such as environmental stresses, personal problems, and sensitivity affect attitudes, opinions and responses.

5.2 Barriers to Effective Communication

Various attitudes and beliefs can interfere with effective communication in the classroom.  As a presenter of information, it is important to consider what barriers you may carry into the classroom in order to overcome your fears.  Following is a list of the most common:

ü  “I’m so nervous, I can’t even talk!”  The main enemy of a presenter is tension, which ruins the voice, posture, and oftentimes your spontaneity.  The voice becomes higher as the throat tenses.  Shoulders tighten up and the legs start to shake causing unsteadiness.  As a presenter, try not to fight nerves, but welcome them instead!  Actors recognize the value of nerves . . . they can add to the value of a performance as adrenaline starts to kick in.   Another strategy for overcoming nerves involves performing relaxation exercises or taking deep breaths before you present as a way to reduce tension.

ü  “I’m not good at public speaking” When asked to prioritize common fears, the fear of public speaking is often listed before the fear of death, loneliness, and flying.  Usually fears about speaking are related to past experiences, unrealistic expectations, and your own self-concept.  Fear inhibits communication.

ü  “I must be perfect” Perfectionism severely inhibits communication.  Your goal is to develop a good presentation, not a perfect presentation.  It is unrealistic to know or remember everything about a topic.  Instead, concentrate on developing techniques for remembering main topics, managing memory lapses, and recovering from verbal blunders. 

ü  “I instruct, you listen” Communication is a two-way street.  You are dealing with thinking individuals, not sponges.  Student response is necessary to determine if the transmission of ideas has occurred.  Presenters also draw energy and ideas from learner interaction.

ü  “That’s just the way I am” True communication involves constant adaptation of presentation style, material, and questioning techniques.  Because the mix of students in a class constantly changes, trying to use a set presentation style is not acceptable.  Flexibility, reality checking, and the desire to change are necessary to improve your communication style.

ü  Other barriers?

Do you use any of these barriers in your communication?

5.3 Barriers and Gateways of Communication

The success of a manager depends on how clear he is in his mind about his basic functions and how effectively he can transfer this clarity of thought to others. This involves a skill of helping others to understand the manager and to be understood by him. Thus, the need for better mutual understanding between labor and management in industry cannot be over-emphasized. It is, in fact, a prerequisite of congenial climate necessary for the overall advancement and productivity. The importance of communication in management for getting the work done may also be seen from the estimate of time which is spent by a manager in communication - verbal or written, in conferences or meetings, giving directions or receiving information. Most of the managers spend more than 60% of their time in communication with others.

Barriers in Communication: The various inadequacies that can be identified through communication evaluation are required to be analyzed in terms of various factors - obstructions and barriers - that impede flow communication. Any managerial action in this regard can be effective only when it strikes at the very root of the factors that lie at the very root of the problem. From this viewpoint, identification of different factors is necessary.

There might be a number of such barriers impeding the flow of communication in the organization. These may be classified as: (i) external (ii) organizational, and (iii) personal factors. However, such a classification does not suggest that these are mutually exclusive. Rather, such a classification is helpful in understanding the nature of communication barriers. 

External Barriers

Barriers to communication may be either external to the parties involved or they might be internal to them. External barriers may affect communication in any context, whether organizational or otherwise. Such external barriers may be in the following forms:

1.        Semantic Barriers:

            Semantic barriers are obstructions causes in the process of receiving or understanding of the message during the process on encoding and decoding ideas and words. These barriers arise from the linguistic capacity of the parties involved. Words are the principal communication instrument but a common difficulty with the words is that each word has several meanings. For example, in English language, the word 'round' has seventy five meanings. The Oxford Dictionary records an average of twenty-eight separate meanings for each of the 500 most used words in the English language. Similar is the position in other languages. Thus, words sometimes fail to convey real meanings. Moreover, they work as barriers in communication in the following manner.

(i) Badly Expressed Message: Lack of clarity and precision in a message makes it badly expressed. Poorly chosen and empty words and phrases, careless omission, lack of coherence, bad organization of ideas, awkward sentence structure, inadequate vocabulary, platitudes, numbering repetition jargon, failure to clarify implications are some common faults found in this case.

(ii) Faulty Translations: Every manager receives various types of communications from superiors, peers, subordinates and he must translate information destined for subordinates, peers and superiors into language suitable to each. Hence the message has to be put into words appropriate to the framework in which the receiver operates, or it must be accompanied by an interpretation, which will be understood by the receiver. This needs a high level of linguistic capacity.

Approximate understanding of words and the consequent faulty translations lead to impaired efficiency and heavy costs.

(iii) Unclarified Assumptions: There are certain un-communicated assumptions, which underlie practically all messages. Though a message appears to be specific, it underlying assumptions may not be clear to the receiver.

(iv) Specialist's Language: It is often found that technical personal and special groups tend to develop a special, peculiar and technical language of their own. This increases their isolation from others and builds a communication barrier. Whatever be the intention of this special language, it hinders their communication with persons not in their specialty, because of the receiver's ignorance of that type of language.

2. Emotional or Psychological Barriers: Emotional or psychological factors are the prime barriers in inter-personnel communication. The meaning ascribed to a message depends upon the emotional or psychological status of both the parties involved. In a communication, apart from the message, there is a meta-message, that is, what one gets out of a message when decoding. Meta-message, the emotions of the receiver play a vital role and he may not be at a wavelength as that of the communicator. Keith Davis opines that these "exist in the people's minds or because of their actions, such as being hard to contact or difficult to understand. These barriers to communication are just at effective as an actual physical wall. Often these human barriers are more like filter paper then a brick wall. They let through some communications, but hold back others, thereby making communication inadequate….This 'half-way' communication gets 'half-way' results". Following are some emotional barriers:

(i) Premature Evaluation: Rogers and Roethlisberger in 1952, first pointed out this barrier. Premature evaluation is the tendency of prematurely evaluating communications, rather than to keep an un-

compromised position during the interchange. Such evaluation stops the transfer of information and begets in the sender a sense of futility. This barrier can be remedied by 'empathy', non-evaluative listening, where the communication is listened to in a non-committal and unprejudiced way, so that sagacious decision and action can follow.

(ii) Inattention: The preoccupied mind of a receiver and the resultant non-listening is one of the major chronic psychological barriers. It is a common phenomenon that people simply fail to react to bulletins, notices, minutes and reports.

(iii) Loss by Transmission and Poor Retention: When communication passes through various levels in the organization, successive transmissions of the same message are decreasingly accurate. It is said that in case of oral communications about 30 percent of the information is lost in each transmission. Even in case of written communication, loss of meaning might occur as far as the appended interpretation, if any, is concerned. Poor retention of the information is again a malady. It is shown that employees retain about 50 percent of information only, whereas supervisors retain about 60 percent of it.

(iv) Undue Reliance on the Written Word: Written word is no substitute for sound face-to-face relationships and that employees cannot be persuaded to accept companies' viewpoint and policies through 'slick', easy to read, will-illustrated publications, unless there is a fair degree of mutual trust and confidence between the organization and its employees. Further, a written communication might fail to explain the purpose of order, procedure or directive. Chester Barnard has laid down that a communication must appeal to the receiver as consonant with the organization's purpose and with his own personal interest. Written communication often tells what is to be done, but not why it should be done, and it lacks the persuasive quality. Moreover, a written communication can be above the level of readership, and failure to ascertain the response to communication is also there.

Hence written media must be considered as supplementary to productive face-to-face relationships.

(v) Distrust of Communicator: It arises out of ill-considered judgments or illogical decisions or frequent countermanding of the original communication by the communicator. Repeated experience of this kind gradually conditions the receiver to delay action or act unenthusiastically, hence making the communication unsuccessful, though apparently it is complete.

(vi) Failure to Communicate: It is quite accepted fact that managers often fail to transmit the needed messages. This might be because of laziness on the part of the communicator, or assuming that 'everybody knows', or procrastination or 'hogging' information or deliberately to embarrass.

5.4 Organizational Barriers

An organization being a deliberate creation for the attainment of certain specified objectives, day-to-day happenings within it required being regulated in such a manner that they contribute to attain these objectives in the most efficient manner. This is usually attempted through a variety of official measures such as designing the organizational arrangements for performance of various activities, prescribing of various policies, rules, regulations and procedures, laying down of norms of behavior, instituting a reward-and-punishment system, etc. All the inner processes, including communication in different directions, are markedly affected by these prescriptions. As such major organizational barriers may be as follows:

(i) Organizational Policy: The general organizational policy regarding communication acts as an overall guideline to everyone in the organization regarding how he is normally expected to behave in this matter. The policy might be in the form of explicit declaration in writing, or as is very commonly the case, it has to be interpreted from the behavior of organization members, particularly people at the top. 

If this policy is not supportive to the flow of communication in different directions, communication flow would not be smooth and adequate.

(ii) Organizational Rules and Regulations: Organizational rules and regulations affect the flow of communication by prescribing the subject-matter to the communicated and also the channel through which these are to be communicated. The rules may restrict the flow of certain messages and may leave many important ones. On the other hand, communication through proper channel in a specified way prescribed by these rules delays it and works against the willingness of persons to convey the message. This barrier is strongly operative in Indian public sector enterprises where observance of rules and regulations is more rigid.

(iii) Status Relationships: The placing of people in superior subordinate capacity in the formal organization structure also blocks the flow of communication and more particularly in upward direction. Greater the difference between hierarchical positions in terms of their status, greater would be the possibility of communication breakdown.

(iv) Complexity in Organization Structure: In an organization where there are a number of managerial levels, communication gets delayed, chances of communication getting distorted are more and the number of filtering points are more. This is more true in case of upward communication, because people generally do not like to pass up the adverse criticism either or themselves or of their superiors.

(v) Organizational Facilities: Organizational facilities provided for smooth, adequate, clear and timely flow of communication may take a number of forms. Some of these have been mentioned earlier in the communication media such as meetings, conferences, complaint box, suggestion box, open door system, social and cultural gatherings, etc. If these are not properly emphasized generally people fail to make effective communication. 

Personal Barriers

While the organizational factors discussed above are, no doubt, important influences operating on communication, a host of factors internal to the two parties-sender and receiver-to this process also exert important influences on its operation, as communication is basically an inter-personal process. Here, for the sake of convenience in the analysis, these barriers have been analyzed separately and these are relevant in the case of downward and upward communication.

Barriers in Superiors

The role of superiors in communication is very vital. Because of their hierarchical relationships with subordinates, they act as barriers in a number of ways discussed below:

(i) Attitude of Superiors: The attitudes of superiors towards communication in general or in any particular direction affect the flow of messages in different directions. For example, if this attitude in unfavorable, there is a greater possibility that messages would not flow adequately from and / or to superiors.

(ii) Pear of Challenge to Authority: A person in the organization always tries to get a higher position and prestige to satisfy his needs. As such, managers in general try to withhold the information coming down the line or going up as frequent passing of information may disclose their weakness.

(iii) Insistence on Proper Channel: One of the basic features of superiors exercising of the authority is that they wish to remain in communication links and they do not like any type of bypassing in communication. Communication through bypassing may, sometimes, be necessary but superiors treat this as the warting of their authority and blocks the flow of communication. 

(iv) Lack of Confidence in Subordinates: Superiors generally perceive, correct or otherwise, that their subordinates are less competent and capable, they are not able to advise superiors or they may not have some information coming downwards.

(v) Ignoring Communication: Sometimes superiors consciously and deliberately ignore the communication from their subordinates to maintain their importance. This works against the willingness of subordinates to communicate.

(vi) Lack of Time: Superiors feel, whether correct or otherwise, that they are overburdened with the work and they have time to talk to their subordinates.

(vii) Lack of Awareness: Sometimes, superiors may lack the awareness about the significance and usefulness of communication in different directions in general or of particular subject-matter. In such a case, communication flow is blocked.

Barriers in Subordinates

Vertical communication in either direction can take place only when subordinates also actively participate in this process. There are various factors in the subordinates that adversely affect such active participation on their part. Some factors, which have been traced in the case of superiors, are also applicable have such as attitude, time availability, awareness about the significance, etc. Two factors are more important in the case of subordinates and these are responsible for blocking communication in upward direction.

(i) Unwillingness to Communicate: Sometimes, subordinates do not communicate upwards certain information because they are not willing to do so. Thus, if a subordinate feels that he is likely to be adversely affected by a particular piece of information to his superior, he would not be willing to supply it. Information going up is utilized for control purposes and subordinates would not be willing to give any information to their superiors about any unfavorable happening and

                      if its supplication is necessary they would modify the information in such a way so as to protect their own interest.

(ii) Lack of Proper Incentive: Lack of motivation to communicate also refrains subordinates to communicate upwards. The reward and punishment system of the organization is more responsible for this. Thus, if a novel suggestion by a subordinate does not evoke any attention from the organization, he would not convey it.

Using Your Body Effectively

Effective communication involves more than talking to your audience.  Your body language plays an important role in communication.  Research shows that what you say accounts for only 7% of the effectiveness of a presentation, while 93% is based on nonverbal communication.  Body language, proximity, and eye contact are three main areas of focus in nonverbal communication.  Remember it’s not what you say, but how you say it that often matters the most in communication.

Some areas to consider while presenting include:

·          Facial Expressions: Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits friendliness, warmth, and approachability.  Smiling is often contagious and others will react favorably.  They will be more comfortable around you and more open to the information you are offering.

·          Posture: You communicate numerous messages by the way you hold yourself while presenting.  A person who is slouching or leaning with arms across their chest may be perceived as being uninterested or unapproachable.  Standing erect, facing the audience with an open stance, and leaning forward communicates that you are receptive and friendly.  Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided as it communicates disinterest.

·          Gestures:  A lively speaking style captures attention, makes the material more interesting, and facilitates understanding.  Use natural movements to emphasize topics and free, easy arm and hand movements to add personality to your presentation.  If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring and stiff.  Gesturing too often can also be distracting for some learners.

·          Movement: Moving naturally around the classroom increases interaction, adds interest, and draws attention to the presentation.  Staying frozen in the front of the room can be distracting and boring for people to watch.  Shuffling feet and pacing can convey nervousness and lack of confidence.

·          Proximity: Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with others.  When interacting with adults in the classroom, a presenter needs to be aware of people’s defined levels of personal space.  Signals of discomfort caused by invading other’s space may include rocking, leg swinging, tapping, and gaze aversion.  Do not invade a student’s intimate space.  Most adults will feel uncomfortable, even if rapport has been established.

5.5 Building Rapport with Eye Contact

Steady eye contact helps to regulate the flow of communication, encourages participation, and can be used to develop rapport with the audience.  When students feel that you see them as individuals, they are more likely to trust you as a trainer and be more open to the learning experience.

Some tips for using eye contact to build rapport include:

·          Length of Eye Contact: Try to maintain eye contact with one person at a time for at least 3 – 5 seconds or until you complete a thought. This helps to establish a connection with people and helps you to avoid darting eyes, which can be distracting and communicate nervousness.

·          Movement of Eyes:  Direct eye contact towards different parts of the audience throughout the course of your presentation.  Staring too long in one direction may cause you to miss important information and can make certain audience members feel less important.

·          Search for Friendly Eyes: If you are nervous, look for a friendly student and establish eye contact with that person.  Gradually, work to establish eye contact with everyone.

Some habits to avoid include:

·          Talking to the Ceiling: Don’t lecture to a spot over the tops of the student’s heads.  They may think you don’t care or they may feel that you are “above them.”  Adults learn better with colleagues.

·          Talking to the Board: Don’t lecture to your desk, to the whiteboard, or to your visuals.  Students may not be able to hear you and may become disinterested.

·          Clutching Your Notes: Be familiar with your material.  Being tied to your notes or a manual keeps you from establishing eye contact and may cause students to question your knowledge, preparedness, and confidence.

5.6 What habits would you like to break while presenting?

 

Enhancing Voice Quality

Voice is another area of communication that can affect the quality of learning in a classroom.  An interesting and audible voice will engage students, while a soft or monotone voice can cause boredom or disinterest among participants.  While it may be difficult to listen to and change our own voice, with awareness and practice, it is possible to use one’s voice effectively.  The first step to refining your voice is to understand the components of voice and identify common voice problems.  Once identified, most voice problems can be improved by being aware of the problem, altering some habits, and practicing new behaviors on a regular basis.

Voice Component	Common Voice Problems and Suggestions for Improvement
Pace How long a sound lasts.  Talking too fast causes words and syllables to be short while talking slowly lengthens them.  Varying pace helps to maintain the audience’s interest.	Continuously talking too fast or too slow ·          Be aware of your normal conversational pace and keep in mind how tension affects the speed in which you talk. ·          Use breathing and natural pauses to slow down your pace ·          Constantly vary your pace in order to maintain audience interest.
Projection The direction of the voice so that it can be plainly heard at a distance.  Problems with projection are often the result of tension, breathiness, and breathing from your throat.	Problems with Projection ·          Avoid projecting from your throat which can lead to sore throats, coughing, and loss of your voice. ·          Take slow, deep breaths, initiated from your abdomen ·          Open your mouth fully and speak to the people in the back of the room.
Articulation The ability to pronounce words distinctly.  It often reflects our attitude towards the words we are speaking.  Clear enunciation reflects self-confidence and interest, while slurred or mumbled speech indicate insecurity or indifference.	Sloppy Articulation ·          Speak at a slower pace than your normal conversational tone.  ·          Take the time to pronounce each letter or sound within a word. ·          Listen for common articulation problems, such as dropping the “g” at the end of words such as finding or going.
Pitch   The normal range of the voice – its highness or lowness.  Think Pee Wee Herman for high and James Earl Jones for low.  Everyone is capable of a wide voice range.  Stress and poor breathing can greatly alter the pitch of your voice.	Pitch Problems ·          Adjust pitch to convey different meanings throughout a presentation.  ·          To alter pitch, control your breathing; breathe from your abdomen and slow your rate of speech.  ·          Take pauses to relax between pitch changes
Inflection The manner in which pitch varies as we speak.  Inflection serves as verbal punctuation and involves changing pitch to convey meaning.  Upward inflections ask a question, suggest uncertainty or doubt, and communicate hesitancy.  Downward inflections give information and convey strength and authority to the audience.	Inflection problems ·          Use upward and downward inflections appropriately. ·          Avoid constant middle inflection where the voice neither rises nor falls but just drones on and on.